26 August 2015

Swedish Water Prize To Indian Rain Harvester

For 25 years the Swedish capital has been a meeting place for people engaged in global water issues. The Stockholm World Water Week is held in the last week of August, and my mother Kate will tell you more about the event and about the Stockholm Water Prize Laureate.

The necessary water
Water is the foundation for human progress, and the World Water Week is arranged by the Stockholm International Water Institute to enhance the possibilities to give clean water to everyone.

Water for Development
Around 3000 leaders and experts from the world’s scientific, business, government and civic communities participate in the World Water Week.‎ This year they network, exchange ideas and develop solutions to water-related challenges around the theme “Water for Development”. Topics to be covered include climate change and food and nutrition, so I am sure the water shortage due to animal agriculture will be discussed.

Water Prize
Each year the Water Institute honors an individual, organization or institution who has made extraordinary water-related achievements.This year it was an Indian, Mr. Rajendra Singh, who received the prize from the hands of His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden and patron of the prize.

In close cooperation with local residents, Rajendra Singh and his organization Tarun Bharat Sangh have used rainwater in a clever way to revive several rivers. This has brought water and life back to a thousand villages in the Indian state of Rajasthan, and now authorities in other countries have taken interest in their methods.

Indian wisdom
“Through the Indian wisdom of rainwater harvesting, we have made helpless, abandoned, destitute and impoverished villages prosperous and healthy again", explained Mr. Singh when he was informed about the prize. He also declared that the price was not only for him but for all who had participated in his projects.

Know-how and science
The Stockholm Water Prize Committee says in its motivation: "Rajendra Singh’s life work has been in building social capacity to solve local water problems through participatory action, empowerment of women, linking indigenous know-how with modern scientific and technical approaches and upending traditional patterns of development, resource use, and social norms.”

kalmstrom.com Business Solutions has two offices, in Sweden and in India, so we feel proud and happy that an Indian has received the world's most prestigious water prize. We all wish Mr. Rajendra Singh good luck in his work, and we hope the Swedish prize will help spreading his ideas and give better living conditions to more people.
Kate Kalmström
CCOkalmstrom.com Business Solutions